Shoe-strap pack.



AN.2B,1909.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

E. A. STIGGINS.

SHOE STRAP PACK.

APPLICATION FILED .T

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EDWARD A. STIGGINS, 0F BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SHOE'STRAP PACK.

Application filed January 28, 1909.

1 b all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD A. Srreems, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Shoe-Strap Packs, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to appliances for use in shoe manufacturing and in similar industries where my invention may find a field of usefulness by reason of the nature of my improvements, the latter being of particular utility when embodied in a pack of the shoe straps furnished to workmen who are operating upon shoe uppers; one of these straps being usually provided for each upper of a pair and being inserted near the top of the shoe usually at the rear, and at the front also in the case of Congress gaiters. The straps or loops are used by the wearer in pulling on the shoe.

An important object of my invention is to retain in assembled relation the individual straps of such a pack so that they will not become scattered and injured, this retention being accomplished in accordance with my invention by means which permit individual straps to be removed from the pack by the workman without disturbing the remaining straps, until exhaustion of the pack by removal therefrom of each strap. Accordingly, I assemble the straps by any convenient method, using preferably automatic apparatus such as that disclosed in my application, Ser. No. 449,802, filed August 22, 1908, which positions the individual straps with the bights of their loops all in the same direction and with their broader sides in contact; each of the straps being likewise positioned preferably with any distinguishing mark upon thestrap set in the same direction; as, for example, the manufacturers trademark or other device printed upon, or woven into, the strap, so that the workman who inserts the straps may grasp each strap and insert it in the upper, without prelimi nary examination thereof to determine which is the proper side to place toward the front of the shoe, being confident from the similar position of all the straps in my improved packagethat if he retains the strap Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915..

Serial No. 474,664.

in the relative position in which he removes it from the pack he will be sure to insert it in proper relation to the upper so far as the aforesaid distinguishing mark is concerned. Such straps are usually provided at the present day with temporary inclividual paper jackets or covers which serve to prevent the strap from being soiled by handling or accidental maltreatment in the course of manufacture, and in accordance with an important feature of my invention I prefer to combine with each strap a cover of paper of considerable thickness to avoid accidental tearing and displacement of the cover by rough handling; such covers being secured in place preferably according to the method of my invention forming the subject of my aforesaid application Ser. No. H9502, without the use of an extraneous adhesive. It is desirable that the straps when covered shall be thus retained unalterably in the relation of their original assemblage, for the workman usually can not see the manufacturer"s mark, and if the straps were permitted to lie around loosely, the covers might be displaced by their engagement with surrounding objects.

As a convenient form of device to secure the covered, doubled straps in their assembled relation already described, I prefer to apply to the pack a wrapper or inclosure consisting of a broad band of paper thick enough to withstand ordinary wear and tear upon the workmans bench, and of suitable breadth to embrace a substantial portion of the length of the straps, and this wrapper may conveniently be formed by a strip of paper having its free ends overlapped and secured permanently in overlapping relation as for example, by being pasted together, all of which is provided for in my aforesaid application,.Ser. No. 449,802, although it may be accomplished in any convenient and suitable fashion.

In order to provide for easy removal of individual straps singly or plurally until the pack shall have been exhausted, I prefer to leave the pack open at the top to permit the projection of the uncovered attaching ends of the straps above the top of the pack, so that the workman can, by grasping the free, uncovered part of the legs of the strap, withdraw the same upward from the package, and I also prefer to leave the pack open at the bottom so that if the workman finds it necessary he can start a few straps at a middle part of the package, pressing upward with his finger upon the covered bights at the bottom of the package, and after such removal of a few of the straps the remaining straps may be withdrawn readily upon grasping their uncovered endsrespectively. During such removal, and while the package is awaiting withdrawal of the remalnlng straps, the latter will be retained snugly 1n position by engagement of their edges with the sides of the paper Wrapper, and the thickness of this wrapper as a whole will cause it to retain its shape and integrity until all of the straps shall have been withdrawn.

The various features of my invention will be illustrated and described fully in the accompanying drawings and specification and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawing, Figure 1 shows 1n perspective a package of covered shoe straps in the construction of which my invention has been embodied, a few of the straps having been removed in order to render clear the operation of the pack when in use upon the workmens bench; and Fig. 2 shows a single strap with the legs of the loop slightly separated and the longitudinal edges of the cover relaxed indicating the free arrangement of the cover upon the strap.

In the embodiment of my invention selected for illustration and description to enable ready and complete understanding of my improvements, the articles designated by the reference numeral 1 may be considered to be the covered shoe straps to which reference has already been made, each comprising a doubled strap member 2, composed of suitable material, such as webbing, of which the uncovered ends appear at the upper portion of the figure, while at the bottom of the figure can be seen the bights or loops of the straps, doubled, and each provided with a cover 3 of paper or other suitable material. In accordance with my invention these covered, doubled straps are assembled with their fiat faces adjacent to each other, each strap being placed so that it presents toward the observer that face which con tains the manufacturers mark; as for example, the device USMC, this device being usually concealed by the cover, which is preferably of thick paper, as indicated in Fig. 2, and'which is held in place without the use of an extraneous adhesive, in the instance illustrated, in accordance with an important possible feature of my invention, the strap being merely doubled upon itself with the free longitudinal edges inclosed between the legs of the loop, such confinement serving to keep the cover in place as long as the straps are contained in assembled relation within the pack, the stiffness of the paper aiding to cause its retention of its folds,

and thus to prevent its accidental displacement from its strap.

In Fig. 1, a few of the straps have been removed, toward one end, and this figure indicates in a clear manner the proportions of the thick wrapper 4, which normally embraces the covered portion 8 of the straps respectively, leaving free the uncovered portion 2 to be grasped by the workman who can also start the strap by pressing with his finger upward through the open base of the pack, when its bottom is left open, as I prefer. This figure illustrates also clearly the manner in which the overlapping edges 5 and 6 of the wrapper are secured at one end of the pack, as by the paste indicated at 7 this arrangement stiffening the end of the wrapper so that it will retain its form and integrity while the straps are being removed, and will hold the sides of the wrapper in engagement with the edges of the straps remaining therein until exhaustion of the pack, so that all the straps can be taken out, singly or plurally, with the covers still in proper position.

Having illustrated and described my invention thus fully, and suitable means for carrying the same into effect, I wish it understood that I do not limit myself to the specific materials and constructional forms selected as suitable for the disclosure of my invention; nor in general do I limit myself otherwise than as set forth in the claim, read in connection with this specification.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

As a new article of manufacture; a pack of articles of the class described, such as covered, doubled shoe straps, said pack comprising a plurality of said articles assembled in a compact group with their broader faces contiguous, their edges adjacent and their similar bight ends arranged in the same direction, each of said articles consisting of a strap member of suitable strap stock such as flat webbing doubled upon itself transversely to form a flat loop, and provided with a cover member of suitable material such as a blank of thick paper folded transversely about said strap with the longitudinal edges of said cover substantially parallel with the length of said strap, confined within and by the contiguous inner faces of said loop and in combination with said group of covered, doubled straps, an inclosure of suitable material such as thick paper, in the form of a broad, fiat band surrounding and confining the straps at their covered portions and serving by its engagement with their edges to retain said straps respectively within said pack regardless of the number so contained, subject to removal of said straps from said wrapper, singly or plurally, until exhaustion of said pack; said inclosure or Wrapper being constructed and arranged to leave exposed the attaching free ends of said loops respectively to permit their seizure and removal manually, and

said wrapper having its bottom arranged to permit access to the bight ends of said articles, so that the same may be engaged and forced outward from said pack; said loops being retained in doubled position, with their covers in position on the respective 10 loops, by their confinement Within said pack. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

EDWARD A. STIGGINS. Witnesses:

FRED L. MACKENZIE, FRANCIS J. GANAWAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

